Guitars - Classroom project #1: Shop assembly

I have volunteered to help the kids make their own guitars in class. The children are 9-10 year olds, and they are learning about sound. We want them to assemble/make as much as possible. The goal is to make a 4 string guitar that can be tuned. Notes will be A-D-G-B.

The basic design is a 4 string neck, sauna tube body, and 1/8”mdf sound board. We are using real guitar tuners and strings, but everything else is going to be made in the shop, or in class. Need to make a total of 15 guitars. Wood, strings & shop labor are being donated, so tuners are most of the cost.

The photos are of my second try with 1-1/4” thick Oak necks, heads and fret boards. I found that you need a strong rigid neck or the strings cause the neck to bend and cause the other strings to get out of tune.

Kids will glue the box together, decorate, and install the tuners & strings. Then tune the instruments. Some of them can play.

Front:

Side View:

Inside:

So far I am able to get the D and G notes to tune, but the amplification is not as good as a regular guitar. I have never made a guitar before, and don’t play.

I would also like the kids to participate in more woodworking, but there is not much they can do in class other than assembly.

If you have access to a guitar or violin, viola etc., look inside as best you can through the fret holes. I thin yours has circles stopping the back from vibrating/sounding louder. I also believe the neck is only attached at the top. strength is gotten by cross braces on the inside of the front and back (2 or 3) kinda like “cleats’. The are glued on and I don’t think they are supposed to touch the sides so they give strength without cutting out too much vibration (sound). The box that the body is is like those tables people were making (forget the name) with all the cells in them for structure/strength. I’m sure there are instrument makers on our site. Good luck.

I’ve made guitars. This design is challenging to get sound out of. If I were you I’d make one sauna tube section sort of like a banjo. With this design 2 won’t make it any better. If you want to keep the price down I’d use some thin luan plywood or even hardboard (the brown pegboard without the holes) 1/8” would be best. Glue it to the sauna tube. you can run the neck through the tube but it shouldn’t touch the soundboard. Cut a small maybe 2” sound hole at high center and glue a base bar on the underside of the soundboard parallel to the neck located on the side of the sound hole parallel to about where the base string might be. It should be about 1/4” to 1/2” square. Glue the bridge in the right place but also glue a 1/8” plate underneath it about an inch wide and as long as the bridge. Or have a floating bridge like you’ve got now with a tailpeice. It will make a sound but will be louder if you glue another piece of hardboard to the back.

Another option is to make the whole thing just a long neck with strings on it and a guitar pickup underneath the stings. Of course you’d need an amplifier and a guitar pickup.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful.

JJ, it will not matter what the results are in terms of playability, the kids are gonna love these guitars. The best part is the air guitar at that age anyway. Keep it fun, try the advice given, but keep it fun.

I cut out the interior of the body, and the sound is better. Although I have not figured out an easy way to get the neck off of the soundboard, I will cut a 2” sound hole. I do like the idea of a pick up, and small amplifier. After the kids have finished their work, I will have them hook their guitar to the amplifier, one at a time. Should be fun.Thanks for the advice.